Tekor nodded, ready to do as he was told.  The screeching nightlark echoed in his ears once more and it made him wince.  

"Focus boy.  My voice and nothing else.  When you can no longer hear me, raise your hand.  Is that clear?"  Once more Hunter commanded him and he nodded.

"Good.  This is just another muscle that you have to learn to control.  It is no different than learning to walk or talk."  As Hunter spoke, his whispering voice slowly got lower and lower.  There was a growing echo to Hunter’s voice, as though he were walking away.

"I doubt you will be able to handle much more than this and you will be sore but th-" Hunter's words died part way into the sentence and Tekor was quick to raise his hand as instructed.

Like a whisper on the wind, Hunter's words returned to him in the darkness.  "About average for now it seems in this regard.  We will work on that as you go through your changing.  The sooner we get you stronger, the better.  Open your eyes."  

Well across the courtyard, Hunter stood in one of the garden planters.  They had to be easily 40 to 50 feet apart currently.  Awe and wonder exploded within Tekor as he marvelled in his newly discovered ability.

"This is your current limit to what you can really hear."  Hunter’s words were substantially harder to hear with his eyes open.  It was as though the very act of seeing had robbed him of his hearing.

Tekor’s ears ached at the strain as he tried to hear more, better, anything.  But all it brought was a new wave of ache as he reached up and rubbed at his ears.

Hunter’s chuckle and steps towards him got his attention.  "Your ears will get used to it eventually.  Like I said before, you're using a muscle you've never really used."

Tekor's hand continued to rub along the side of his head.  "How..."  He wasn't sure if he was allowed to ask but he needed to.  "How far can you hear?  What do you hear?"

Hunter knelt before him and closed his eyes.  "I will walk with you as far as you can go.  Then I will tell you where it ends for me.  Eyes closed."

Tekor did as he was told once more and closed his eyes.  The darkness seemed to welcome him this time.

"Behind you, through the courtyard, through the door, there are two guards.  One a little heavier than the other."  Hunter's whisper hovered before him.

He strove to follow along and hear the men.  "How can you tell?"  Tekor's whispered joined the darkness.

"Listen."  Hunter hissed. A silence filled the air between them.

One of the guards shifted his weight, trying to get into a different position.  There was a scraping of a heavy leather sole on stone and a jostling of plate metal.  The butt end of the spear in the guards hand tapped in time with the movement.

"One shifts like that when they are not strong enough to stand long in one place.  The heaviness to his steps.  That is a man that weighs more than he should in armor he probably shouldn't be in."  Tekor’s reverence for his tutor grew further as Hunter continued to speak.  "Past the guards, there is a hallway that heads straight out towards the front of the grounds.  I imagine somewhere in this hallway is the limit to your ability.  Mine, continues down the hall, past the kitchen where they are butchering you....  boar, or buck...  It is a heavy beast.  Past that, I can hear clear to the front door where it sounds as though your father is gathering his things for another hunt."

Tekor was amazed.  "H-How?"

A heavy sigh came from Hunter.  "Open your eyes."

He complied and was rewarded with Hunter's eyes looking directly into his own.  "I am not special in this.  You will not be special in this.  If your father chose to, he could hear what we are speaking about at any moment just as I can hear him.  The difference is that I am trying to teach that it is less of a skill and more of a tool.  Knowing what people are doing or saying is just as important as seeing.  Sometimes, it is more important.  Our vision gives out in the pitch of a new moon just as humans’ do.  In that time, every one of us is vulnerable."

Tekor stared into the depths of Hunter's eyes and felt a coldness run up his spine.  The true depths of the knowledge that this man had was immense.  Fear gripped him for a moment as it dawned on him that he might not be able to live up to the expectations.  That the sideways glances his father had given him were validated in some fashion.  That his mother's ambivalent tendencies were finally made plain in his failure.  

The fear, however powerful that it was, was short lived and quickly snuffed out as a raging fire of determination and defiance overtook his heart.  There would be no failure in this task.  He would learn all that Hunter was willing to teach him.  Then, he would use all he learned on anyone that dared to stand against him.  Starting, of course, with his sister.  She had shamed him first and he would take her to task for that.

"So..."  Tekor started softly.  "The sounds tell me what people are doing and...  and I just listen?"  He wanted to make sure he was understanding this all correctly.

Hunter nodded and stood before him.  "That is the heart of it.  Listen first.  Actions tell you part of the picture.  They tell you what a person is doing and sometimes, how they are feeling.  But for the why, you will have to learn to look at people properly."

Frustration furrowed Tekor's brow at that statement.  "I can see just fine."

Another sigh and smile slipped from Hunter.  "It's not about seeing, boy.  It's about what's going on in here."  Reaching out, Hunter pressed two hands to Tekor's forehead.  "Everyone does things they can't help.  A smirk here.  A shrug of the shoulders.  These little things give you insight, lets you see who they are hiding."

Tekor tried to follow his words but it didn't make sense, fueling his frustration further.  "So then you want me to look at people and see who they have kidnapped?"

This time Hunter laughed, his raspy voice caught the wind and seemed to slither through the grass around them.  "No..."  The older man laughed once more.  "For instance, I know you still want to kill your sister."  Tekor went stiff as a board as Hunter continued speaking with a smirk.  "And I will tell you that you are wasting your time and energy on that.  No matter what she did to you or how you feel about her, you need to leave it be."

Tekor looked away in frustration, "I will do as I please since I am the heir of this house and have the right to do so."  Despite the adult nature of his word choice, it dripped with childish entitlement.

Hunter looked him over once more before remarking flatly,  "For now, that will work on those with no spine.  But eventually, you will have to learn to use that thing between your ears."